Bills embracing new identity heading into training camp

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — This Bills offseason drew comparisons to the 2018 offseason, but Buffalo is embracing its new identity heading into the 2024 season as the team opens training camp in Rochester on Tuesday.

But unlike the 2018 season, the Bills are sure to be a strong contender to make the playoffs, despite a mini rebuild over the spring and summer.

Buffalo is coming off a transformational offseason, where the team traded star wide receiver Stefon Diggs to the Houston Texans and cut ties with multiple defensive stalwarts, including safety Jordan Poyer and cornerback Tre'Davious White. Micah Hyde remains a free agent but is mulling retirement.

As for notable additions, the Bills signed a group of veteran wide receivers including Curtis Samuel, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Mack Hollins and Chase Claypool. They also brought in a pair of offensive linemen in La'el Collins and Will Clapp, safety Mike Edwards and depth defensive linemen Casey Toohill and Austin Johnson.

Head coach Sean McDermott said that the entire team is healthy heading into the first practice of the year, and is looking forward to seeing what they have to work with in the coming weeks before the season begins.

"The way I'm looking at it this year, it's a little different than 2018," McDermott said. "It's an opportunity, and you look forward to those opportunities, to bring a team along and put a team together ... I think one of the cool things about the position I'm in, the position that we're in as coaches, the position that [general manager] Brandon [Beane] is in and his staff, we get a chance to put together a team."

Buffalo's first-round pick, wideout Keon Coleman, will likely have an immediate role.

"He'll face the normal rookie challenges," McDermott said. "As spring went on I saw him start to get more and more comfortable, I saw Josh [Allen} spend more and more time with him and building that rapport."

As for the new wide receiver core, the team lacks a solidified No. 1 receiver, so finding roles for the group of veterans will be an emphasis.

"We don't really know what we have, but we know what we have," McDermott said. "It's a very diverse group, I know how a lot of people talk about how we don't have a true No. 1 and this and that. I think these guys will rise to the occasion."

In an AFC East that features the Miami Dolphins which have done well in the past few years, Aaron Rodgers returning to the New York Jets and the New England Patriots that boast a new first-round quarterback in Drake Maye, that division is going to be competitive.

"There's many steps between where we are now and where we're trying to get to as a football team and as an organization," McDermott said. "This is a critical first step, coming to camp and really winning this first step."